The next day, you found yourself sitting across from Jules at Sunday in Brooklyn. You and Charlie had agreed the night before that it would be best for him to have some time alone with Henry so you took the time apart as opportunity to catch up with your best friend and, according to her, it wasn't a moment too soon. Jules had been blowing up your phone all evening while you were at the premiere for updates on how things were going. Now that you were sitting across from her, you were finally at liberty to lay every single detail out on the proverbial and literal tables.
You were both waiting for your iced teas when your phone buzzed alerting you of new messages from Charlie.
Charlie: Nicole said Henry can stay with us for dinner tonight so if you have a special request, let me know. Love you xo
Charlie: Also, I'm not reading any reviews until we're together, so please wait! ;)
"Dear god, you've got it bad."
You must have been smiling. You looked up to see Jules carefully taking the glasses of tea from the waiter. A rather large grin was plastered across her face.
"Sorry." You said, making a face as you set your phone face down on the table.
"No, please. By all means-- text Theater Daddy."
You chortled. "Can you not please?"
"Oh I'm sorry," Jules teased. "Is Zaddy more appropriate? Doesn't Daddy work though? I mean, technically, he's a father."
You blushed at the thought of the night before. The conversation. Charlie everywhere.
"Technically?"
"Okay fine, the dude's a dad. Wait...I have one better...Thespian Father."
You laughed. "How did you manage to make it worse?"
"It's a gift. You're welcome."
You gave her an incredulous look, quirking an eyebrow.
"Okay, fine," said Jules, playfully putting up her hands. "You win. I'll lay off the Theater Daddy stuff, but I am, however, still waiting to hear the nitty gritty about what happened on the red carpet."
"Well, for starters, we rode separately from Henry and everyone else."
"Can I just say something? Look—I'm sorry—I still can't believe his fucking ex showed up like that. Like, what a bitch." Jules sipped her tea.
"She seemed--okay, I guess-- but after watching them interact firsthand, I can definitely see why they aren't together anymore. And I agree. It did seem very underhanded that she just---randomly showed up like that. I mean, I guess it wasn't even random. They had tickets. There was planning that went into it."
Jules must have noticed that you visibly tensed up. You were getting upset over the thought of someone intentionally trying to hurt Charlie.
"Okay—so—moving back towards the subject," she said, trying to be upbeat as straightened up in her chair. "You were telling me about being at the premiere."
You sighed, smiling fondly. "I was so proud of him last night. He so was nervous once we were actually in the theatre sitting down, like he thought the whole building was going to collapse right on top of us, but when he was being interviewed--talking to all of those people--nothing. If he was nervous then, he played it off well. It was like he was made for it."
"Did anyone take your picture or were you just arm candy?"
"Several people, actually."
"Separately or together?"
"I'm pretty sure together. I may be in the background of a couple though. I tried to give him space when he was talking to reporters."
Jules was already pulling out her phone.
"What are you doing?" You asked, setting your menu down.
"What am I doing? I want to see if the dress paid off in pictures."
"Charlie loved it, by the way, so thank you...and good call with the navy."
"For sure."
Once she started scrolling, you could feel your nerves creeping up on you. The chill from anxiety made you shiver. You had done everything you could to make sure you looked perfect. You even made sure your setting powder didn't react to flash, but you were still uneasy. You knew you didn't have a hair out of place and you certainly weren't wrinkled. Your stomach felt like it might betray you before breakfast.
Please let them look good. You didn't want to be anything other than flawless standing next to Charlie, especially on such an important night.
You were suddenly parched, your mouth having turned desert like. When did it get so hot in here?
You picked up your glass, giving the liquid a stir with the paper straw, and downed a few large gulps of tea, hoping it would help.
"Um..." Jules was smirking.
"What?"
"Do you have anything you want to tell me?"
There it was, that queasy feeling.
"What do you mean?"
"Just asking."
"Why?"
The sweet hibiscus tea wasn't sitting well on your stomach.
"No reason."
"Jules."
"Okay so maybe a reason..."
"Jules..."
"But it's a very small reason. Like tiny. Inconsequential even."
You huffed out a breath. "Can you just tell me please?"
Jules wrinkled her face, quirking her mouth to the side. You could tell she was trying to figure out the best thing to say.
"Okay...so it's the caption."
"What about it?"
She cleared her throat. "Pictured above, man of the hour, director Charlie Barber with his wife..." you heard her reading your name and felt like you couldn't move.
"What website is that?"
"Playbill."
"Fuck." Your eyes grew wide, anxiety setting in. "Can you check the others?"
"Of course."
A few Google searches later, the results were all the same. Everyone who provided coverage for the event, from BroadwayWorld to the New York Times, had referred to you as Charlie's wife. Jules showed you another photo. In this one, you were standing behind him and off to the side. "Pictured, director Charlie Barber and his wife..." There it was again--only this time your name was followed by his last name.
"I don't understand why they all wrote that I'm his wife. We never gave them any reason to. They all asked who I was. Sometimes they asked Charlie—regardless, we were very clear."
Jules gave you a halfhearted smile. "I think this may be why." She turned her phone around again and began swiping through the various photos she saved from different sites for you.
There it was, the truth of it all in stunning color on her phone.
Charlie looking at you like you hung the moon. You looking at Charlie, beaming with pride. Both of you holding hands. And another one of you holding hands. And another holding hands. Charlie staring at you lovingly. Charlie's hand on your lower back. Charlie's arm around your waist. You and Charlie looking at each other like you were the only two people in the world.
No wonder they thought you were Mrs. Charlie Barber.
_________
After your morning out, Jules traveled with you to your apartment. You hadn't been home in well over a week and were grateful Charlie took out the trash for you before you left. You were in desperate need of more clothes. While it was nice being able to use the washing machine at his place, you couldn't help feeling a little weird about trying to rotate the same outfits for work. You considered texting Charlie, gently reminding him while you were there that you'd be happy to stay at your place while he had Henry, but you knew in your gut he'd just fight you on the subject again anyway. You might've also been avoiding him in the event he caught wind of his being married to you in print. You weren't ready to have that conversation. Not yet.
You were packing a new overnight bag, making a mental note to bring the old one back, when you got another text. A tiny part of you panicked, wondering if he had seen the photos too. The captions.
Charlie: My progeny has kindly requested his favorite for tonight--turkey roulade with whipped potatoes and asparagus. Henry calls it "little Thanksgiving". :) Is that okay with you?
You typed up a text and pressed send.
You: Sounds wonderful, but are you sure I won't be imposing? I don't want to make him uncomfortable.
"Maybe he hasn't seen them after all," you thought. If that truly happened to be the case, you weren't about to say anything when you weren't in person.
Charlie: I want him to get to know you. That's really important to me. Besides, after dinner I thought we could all play board games together.
Charlie: Also full disclosure: My cranberry sauce comes from a can. I've tried making the fancy stuff and Henry won't touch it.
You: Your secret is safe with me. 😘
Charlie: I'm going to hop off because we're about to have lunch, but I miss you.
You: Miss you too.
"You okay over there?" Jules called over from the couch. You nodded, setting your phone down and picking up a pair of pants to fold before placing them into your overnight bag.
"I'm fine, promise. Just a little nervous," you selected another garment and made room for it in the bag.
"Why? What's up?"
"Charlie's wanting me to spend time with his son."
"Alone?"
"No, like quality time with the two of them."
Jules stood up and crossed over to you, leaning on the small piece of wall next to your bed.
"Sounds like it's getting serious."
"It does?"
She nodded. "Most people typically don't introduce their kids to just anyone. If they do, it's usually because they expect that person to be somewhat of a constant in their lives."
Your heart was fluttering in your chest, but your brow furrowed with concern.
Jules crossed her arms. "Do you feel like things moving too fast?"
"What? No. I mean...at least, I don't think so?"
Jules crossed to pick up a shirt from the bed, holding it up to herself before tucking it under her arm.
"Then what's the problem? Have you guys talked about the future at all? About what you both want?"
"What do you mean?"
"Outside of dating. Where you see yourself in 10 years. That sort of thing. You guys are different. I mean, you're really your own brand of crazy, respectfully speaking of course. Nothing about your relationship is typical so—I mean—you can't really expect the same rules as a normal relationship to apply, can you?"
"Why not?"
"Because—they just don't."
"You sound like Charlie."
"What do you mean?"
"—I don't know."
"Sure you do."
You sighed. "It just reminded me of him. And it made me remember something I noticed he said last night. When we were talking about me coming here to stay since he had Henry with him and he kept saying I was being ridiculous and needed to 'come home'."
"Because your home is with him?"
"I don't know."
She said your name. "If he said that, then that's probably how he feels."
"I think that's what scares me." You realized you had never said that out loud.
"Why? It makes sense. Didn't you two admit your feelings for each other recently? Those three little words?"
You nodded.
"Has that changed for you?"
"No. I do really love Charlie."
"Then I ask again—what's the problem?"
You sighed, sitting on the end of the bed. Jules followed suit and sat down beside you.
"Does he not treat you well or something?" She asked, in all seriousness.
"No, Charlie is incredible. He's kind and thoughtful. Incredibly loving. Selfless when it comes to me and Henry. I feel safe when I'm with him. He's the perfect gentleman."
"Okay, is he bad in bed?"
"Again—please see selfless, incredible, and perfect gentleman."
"Gross?"
"No."
"Messy?"
"He's insanely clean."
"Does he expect you to cook for him?"
"I have, but he can hold his own in the kitchen. He might actually be a better cook than me."
Jules offered you a half smile. "So then what are you so afraid of?"
"I—fuck, I don't know. I'm not afraid of Charlie, per se. Maybe I'm just afraid of myself. Or fucking something up...again."
Jules turned to face you more, tucking a leg underneath her.
"Does any of this have to do with Alan?"
You fell silent.
Jules nodded, understanding what was going on inside your head and took your hand.
"Not everyone who promises to love you forever will leave. And just because I didn't get to say it enough when you told me the first time—that guy fucking sucks and I hope he's miserable. May he get a chapped asshole mid-flight." She digressed. "In all seriousness, has Charlie done anything to give you a reason not to trust him?"
You felt yourself tearing up for some reason as you shook your head. Jules chuckled uncomfortably.
"Stop. Come on. You know how this works. If you cry, I'm gonna cry...and you know I hate that...so...let's not, okay?"
You sniffled and nodded.
"Don't you fucking do it, bitch. Don't you fucking do it," she threatened playfully, her voice only breaking a little.
You wiped the tears away from the corners of your eyes, laughing as you did. You looked over at Jules who was discreetly trying to dab away the moisture from her own eyes with her sleeve.
"Ugh. I hate this."
"Love you too, Jules."
"Yeah, I guess you're okay too."
______
After a while, Jules left you to your own devices and you tidied up your place. It wasn't even necessarily in need of cleaning. You just needing something to do. You were too antsy to watch tv or sit still for too long for that matter, so eventually you tried to go over the list of things to bring to Charlie's in your head.
Pajamas. As nice as it was to wear one of Charlie's t-shirts to bed, with Henry around—you needed pants or shorts at the very least.
Tampons. You hadn't gotten your period yet, but you weren't worried. You and Charlie were newly intimate so it was still way too soon to be concerned. You briefly pondered buying condoms before you went over again. Would he be offended? In the handful of times he had fucked you, Charlie came inside of you every time.
Truthfully it was your own fault. The first time, Charlie asked and you'd given him the green light to let go. Maybe he assumed you were on the pill or had an IUD because you said yes or maybe Charlie hadn't thought about it at all. To his credit, he was married for 10 years. Maybe he was used to not having to worry about it. All the same, you decided you should probably bring it up at some point.
Toiletries. As much as you loved smelling like Charlie, you also missed your own shampoo and body wash. You were able to find some empty travel bottles under your bathroom sink and filled them with product. You didn't need a toothbrush. Charlie had given you a spare at his place ages ago, an electric one with an interchangeable head. Your deodorant and perfume were already at his apartment.
Other than the clothing and shoes you had in your bag, you couldn't think of anything else off the top of your head you'd need.
_____
You were getting off of the subway on the way to Charlie's when your phone rang. It was him.
"Hi honey."
"Hey baby," his voice was tender in your ear. "Are you on your way? I was thinking of starting dinner soon."
"I am."
"Could I ask a small favor?"
You smiled. "What do you need?"
"How much trouble would it be to pick a carton of vanilla ice cream? I'm making apple crisp for dessert and it totally slipped my mind when Henry and I were out earlier."
"It's no problem at all. I had planned to stop for something anyway."
"Oh. What do you need? Is it something I might have here?
You could feel yourself blushing. For whatever reason, you were embarrassed to tell him.
"Condoms."
"Hang on." You could hear rustling on the phone. Was he looking for some? You didn't want to think about it.
"Sorry, I had to step into the other room for a second." His voice was quiet. "I—I'm not sleeping with anyone else. You know that, right? I love you and we're exclusive—aren't we?"
You stopped down, moving out of the way of foot traffic on the sidewalk. "I love you too and of course we are."
"I'm not sure I'm seeing the issue then. I know we never explicitly said anything, but I'm clean. Before you, I hadn't slept with anyone in almost a year and I was very careful. Protection was used. I was tested right after."
"Pregnancy?"
"Oh. There is that, yeah. Are you not on birth control?"
Before you could answer, Henry's voice rang out on the other end of the line. "Dad!"
"Hang on, one sec." You could tell Charlie moved the phone away from his mouth. His voice was muffled.
"What's up, honey?" "I'm getting hungry." "Alright, well let's figure out a little snack before dinner, okay? Then you can help me with the potatoes and setting the table." "Okay."
There was rustling again.
"I'm back. Look, can we—can we talk about this later? Right now, I need to go figure things out with Henry. This is important to me, but let's not do this over the phone."
"That's fine. I'll see you in a bit."
You hung up and started walking toward the market. In your gut, you had a feeling this was going to be a larger conversation than you needed it to be and it made you a little uncomfortable.
"Oh well," you thought.
"At least he hasn't seen the pictures."
—————————
When you arrived at the apartment, you were surprised Henry was the one to let you in. "Daddy's in the kitchen. Did you bring the ice cream?"
You had never seen him so excited. Charlie called out from the kitchen. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Henry hung his head. "Hi."
You smiled. "Hi Henry."
"Did you bring the ice cream?" You couldn't help but chuckle.
"I did," you said sitting down your overnight bag and pulling the carton of ice cream out of the grocery bag.
"Yes!" Henry's grabby little hands carefully took the carton from you and carried it into the kitchen. About that time, Charlie stepped out, wiping his hands on a tea towel to say hello. "Hey," he said warmly as he pecked you on the lips. You were a little taken aback by the small show of affection in front of his son. Albeit, it seemed Henry wasn't paying attention to either of you.
"I should taste the ice cream to make sure it's okay."
Charlie turned back to the kitchen. "After dinner. You know the rules. Into the freezer it goes."
"Okay, fine."
He brought his attention back to you. "We're just doing prep right now. You want a glass of wine or anything?"
"That would be great. I'm just going to put my bag in the other room, if that's alright."
He spied the grocery bag still in your hands, recalling your earlier conversation. "Uh, sure. That's fine. We'll be in here."
You kissed him again and collected your overnight bag from beside the front door before moving into Charlie's room to settle in.
You weren't used to putting your clothes in his dresser. When you started staying over more, Charlie had insisted on making space for you. He said there was no reason your clothes should sit in a bag when you could put them away properly. In addition to sharing a few drawers, he had also made room for you in his closet.
Now that you were both here with Henry, it felt even more like he was trying to make this your home. Sometimes it did feel like things were moving a little quickly, but no matter what thoughts popped into your head, you didn't have any real urge to slow down.
You crossed over to the nightstand, shopping bag in hand, and removed the box of condoms before placing them in the drawer. Never in your life had you been so grateful for the bag's brown paper exterior.
With the empty bag in tow, you met Charlie and Henry in the kitchen. They were deep in conversation.
"Are you going to Mommy's wedding?" Henry asked, carefully peeling potatoes.
"I don't know, honey."
"Why?"
"Well—because—when people get married, they have a big party and they send out invitations—like you do for birthday parties—and only the people who are invited get to go."
"So if Mommy doesn't invite you, you can't come?"
"That's right."
"Do you think she will?"
"I-I don't know."
Henry was thoughtful. You felt like you were walking in on a private moment.
"Are you getting married too?"
"What makes you ask that?"
"Because you have a girlfriend and because Carter was Mommy's boyfriend and now they're getting married."
"I—Henry—"
You cleared your throat alerting Charlie of your presence.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Hey. Can I help with anything in here?"
Charlie looked down at his cutting board and then to the stove. "Would you want to prep the salad? I'm almost ready to the stuff the turkey for the roulade, but the stuffing needs to cool first. I've already cleaned the romaine, but if you couldn't mind giving it a good chop, that would be great."
"Sure." You scooted past Charlie to get a cutting board from one of the cabinets and carefully set up your workstation.
"Are you putting chickpeas in the salad again?"
You tried your best not to react.
"If you promise to eat all of your asparagus, we can skip the chickpeas and add cucumbers instead."
"Do you have ranch dressing?"
"No, Daddy's making Caesar."
"From scratch?"
"Uh huh".
"Okay."
"That's impressive."
"Do you like Caesar dressing too?"
You turned around to see Henry watching you.
"I do."
"Me too. Mommy doesn't cook like Daddy does, but my G-Ma does. She's the best cook ever."
"I thought I was the best cook ever?" Charlie teased.
"Nope. It's G-Ma." Henry giggled.
"But what about my spaghetti? Or my pancakes? I thought those were your favorite?"
Henry thought about it, coming over to Charlie to steal a cube of baguette from his cutting board. "Your spaghetti is better. And your pancakes are pretty good too."
Charlie hugged him and kissed the top of his head before glancing over at you. You had been watching the entire exchange, completely forgetting the romaine.
"Are you good at cooking too?" Henry asked coming closer to you.
"I like to think so. I really like to cook."
"Didn't you have a cookie last night?"
"Uh huh."
Charlie pointed to you, smiling. "She made those. She bakes them all the time."
"That was the greatest chocolate chip cookie of my whole life."
———
Dinner was delicious, but you had expected nothing less. You had to hold in a laugh when Henry started poking at his asparagus.
"Do I have to eat this?" He asked, making a face.
"That was the deal for no chickpeas."
He turned to you, a piece of asparagus pierced on his fork, offering it to you. "Do you want this?"
"I already have some, but thank you."
"You can have this one too."
"Henry."
You hadn't seen this side of Charlie before. He was firm, but patient unlike what you had witnessed with his ex the day before.
"Do I really have to?"
"You have to eat at least half of it if you want dessert."
After dinner, the three of you played Monopoly using the rules your family played by growing up. Henry's eyes grew wide when he saw you place the initial stack of money in the center of the board and they only grew wider once he realized all monies paid to the community chest added to the pile as well.
It was Charlie's move. He rolled the dice. "Six." He began counting aloud as he moved the top hat toward its destination. Once he saw where he landed, he cursed under his breath and looked at you. "You own all of these?" He asked, pointing to the green properties on the board.
You smirked before shaking your head, gesturing to the board. "Just these two. Henry owns that one—and won't sell it to me." Henry giggled as you teased him, pleased with the fact you couldn't buy any little houses.
"You two are going to wipe me out."
"Pay me please." Henry stuck his hand out, wiggling his fingers as he awaited payment.
Charlie sighed as he forked over the small sum.
"Roll again, Daddy."
Henry handed him the dice and he gave them a good shake in his hands.
"Be careful, if you roll doubles again..."
"I won't."
"But if you do..."
"I won't," he said, tossing the dice onto the board. There it was, plain as day. 12.
"Dammit. How does it keep happening every time? Every time!"
Henry was all giggles as he moved Charlie's top hat to the most dreaded corner of the board. You reached over to lovingly rub Charlie on the arm and he gave you a small, albeit frustrated smile. Someone didn't like to lose. He got up from the floor and stretched before bending over to kiss the top of your head. "Who wants more dessert?"
————
You were getting ready for bed when Charlie came in from his shower. The scheduling of who showered when worked out more easily than either of you had expected. Henry had his tub time first. Then you'd shower during story time as not to disturb them and Charlie showered last.
You loved watching the water as it glistened on his body while he toweled off.
"I changed the sheets while you were in there," you said, patting the bed next to you.
Charlie smiled fondly, as he put on his underwear. "Thank you, sweetheart."
He began rummaging for a pair of sleep pants when it occurred to him you hadn't finished your conversation.
"So...before we get into what we were discussing earlier, I wanted to apologize for last night."
You furrowed your brow. "Multiple orgasms are hardly anything to apologize for."
Charlie chuckled as he crawled into bed beside you. "I meant for what I said outside the theatre." He moved in closer. "I was aggressive. I'd had a little too much champagne and—"
"—I didn't mind," you interjected.
"Really?"
You shook your head. "I actually sort of liked it."
He was staring at you like he could devour you alive and a part of you wanted him to. He started to move in to kiss you and stopped short.
"Um, in that case...maybe we should revisit our phone call?"
You shifted on your side of the bed, scooting more toward the pillows to prop yourself up.
"Okay. What did you want to talk about?"
Charlie supported himself on his side, looking at you. "Precautions we should take—if any."
You didn't know why talking about this made you feel so shy. "If any?"
He reached over and put his hand on top of your thigh through the comforter.
"Do you want to start using condoms?"
"I bought some today."
"I could have done that. You didn't have to."
An awkward silence fell over both of you. "Would these be for extra protection on top of your birth control?"
"I'm not on birth control right now."
"Oh."
"Do you want me to be?"
"Do you want to be?"
"If I'm being honest, I only bought the condoms today because I thought neither of us would want to deal with potential aftermath."
"It's way too early to know, obviously, but are you worried I got you pregnant or something? I know you know not every time is a sure thing."
"Like you said, it's not like I'd be able to tell right now anyway."
"Maybe not, but you'd know if you were ovulating."
"Charlie."
"Would it make you feel better if we discussed how we'd handle that situation before getting into anything else?"
You made a face. You couldn't decide. The conversation was starting to feel heavier than you imagined it being.
"Maybe?"
"Well...for starters, what would you want to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you are somehow pregnant, it's not like you're out of options."
"I feel like an idiot for talking about this in hypotheticals."
"You know what your choices would be."
"What? Have it or don't?"
Charlie shrugged.
"What's that?" You mimicked his shrug. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means what it means. It means have the baby or—or don't."
You weren't sure if he was offended or not. Alternatively, you weren't sure if you were either.
"And what would you have me do, in this hypothetical world we've created?"
He used air quotes. "If you were "hypothetically" pregnant?"
"Yeah."
"I'd—I'd probably tell you to have our baby."
"You would not. You'd really have me keep it?"
You couldn't believe what you were hearing.
"Why is that so hard to believe?"
"Because—it's—it's too fast."
"Babies aren't made overnight."
"I wouldn't know even how to be a mom."
"Please. Nobody knows how to be a parent. We're all just idiot kids in larger, older bodies who have adult responsibilities and access to money. I'm still learning how to be a parent to Henry every day. Every day, he gets bigger. He wakes up a different person. He's constantly evolving. His likes and dislikes change all the time and all I can do is try to adapt. You can only do your best with what you have and—and hope you're helping your kid grow up to an upstanding human being and not facilitating behaviors that turn them into some newly minted asshole of your own design."
"Shouldn't I at least know your middle name before we start talking about having kids together?"
"Honey, please don't be defensive. You brought it up. I only answered your question. And it's Douglas. Before tonight, you had never asked. Otherwise, I would have told you."
"What?"
"Charles Douglas Barber. Now you know."
You pushed the covers back and started to get out of bed causing Charlie to stir.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm just getting a glass of water."
"Are you mad at me for what I said?"
"No, just thirsty."
Charlie was sitting up fully now and reaching for his iPad on the nightstand.
"Okay...well, if we're genuinely okay on this front— When you get back, would you mind if we read the reviews for the show together? I know that probably seems trivial after this everything we've talked about, but I've been waiting all day to read them with you."
"Of course. Do you want anything?"
He shook his head.
"And you're absolutely sure we're okay?"
You crawled back onto the bed simply so that you could kiss him to put his mind at ease.
"I promise," you said, gently touching his face. He stared into your eyes for a moment before kissing you again, leaving a few slow small kisses on your lips.
"Good."
______
You had quietly made your way into the kitchen and stood there for what felt like an eternity in the warm glow of the light coming from above the stove. Truthfully, you weren't all that thirsty. You just needed a moment to breathe. You wondered if you were being unreasonable even though you knew you weren't.
You had an ob/gyn appointment in the coming weeks for a checkup mostly. For the moment, you mulled over the idea of an IUD. They were reliable. There was no doubting that. Once it was in place, you and Charlie would be good to go anytime, anywhere the mood happened to strike. Maybe. You pulled out a cup and the Brita pitcher from the fridge, filling your glass nearly to the brim with water before taking a sip. The ice cold liquid felt good going down. It's what you needed to take the edge off. You filled the glass a second time before putting the pitcher away and deciding to go back to talk with Charlie.
You walked into the room, glass in hand and a halfhearted smile on your face as you closed the door.
"Okay, hear me out. I know I just made a huge fuss about us using condoms, but how would you feel about keeping things how they are and me getting an IUD?"
"Did you know we're married?"
You froze, hearing the words fall from his lips. You could feel the glass trying to slip right out of your hand.
"I—What?"
"According to Playbill.com...it says it here in black and white—apparently you're my wife."
He turned the iPad around. "I should also mention I have about a few dozen emails and text messages from friends and colleagues 'congratulating me on my recent nuptials'."
"I—"
Your lack of reaction must have spoken volumes.
"Did you know?"
You were a horrible liar and, unfortunately for you, your poker face was even worse.
"You knew? You knew. And you weren't going tell me?" Going by tone alone, it seemed Charlie was more surprised than anything else...amused even. Or so you hoped.
"Charlie, I only saw this morning and it's only because Jules wanted to see pictures. I was going to tell you."
He chuckled, running a hand through his hair before shaking his head in disbelief.
"So you can argue with me about what to do with a hypothetical baby, but you can't tell me the entire Broadway community thinks we're married?"
"I was going to tell you. Promise."
Charlie tossed the iPad onto the comforter and hopped out of bed.
"Oh, you are gonna get it." He said, a look of mischief on his face, walking towards you slowly.
"Charlie..." you squeaked out.
"Yes wife?"
He started to come at you, his hands out ready to grab you, his fingers threatening to tickle. Your eyes must have been the size of saucers. You were as nervous as you were giddy. You hadn't seen this side of him before.
You put your hands out, trying to have him keep his distance.
"Charles..." You heard how ridiculous it sounded leaving your mouth, but you wanted him to know you were serious.
He made a face showing his distaste and shook his head, holding a finger out scolding you.
"Charlie."
"Charlie, we can talk about this and sort this out."
"Oh, we're gonna talk about it, alright."
Before you knew it, he was throwing you over his shoulder, eliciting a squeal from you. "CHARLIE!" His hand briefly made contact your ass—a reminder for you to keep it down.
"Mrs. Barber," he said, seductively. "I do believe you're in trouble."
He playfully tossed you back onto the bed before crawling on the other side of you, resting his head on a pillow. He huffed out a breath of amusement, staring at the ceiling.
"What the hell are we going to do about all of this?"
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A/N: Hi all! This has been one of the longer chapters I've posted. Do you prefer them this length? Let me know. Also--oh no! Everyone thinks they're married? What's going to happen now?! Do you think this will take a toll on their relationship?
FUN MUSICAL TIP: Start playing to "Chapel of Love" by The Dixie Cups right when Charlie says "Did you know we're married?" It adds a fun, cutesy element to the scene. Just my opinion though.
I may post another chapter later tonight or tomorrow. We shall see. Let me know your thoughts! :P
LASTLY, if anyone wants Charlie's recipe for Caesar dressing, I'm happy to share it because it fucking slaps.